A week ago, I made resolution to revive this blog and post observations from time to time. So far, my most profound thought is that it’s been very cold here in the Twin Cities. Of course, I’m not surprised by this, nor am I freaked out by it. It hasn’t even been an especially bad cold snap for January in Minnesota. But a couple of days this week when I decided to go out for a walk, even at the “warmest” part of the day it was downright uncomfortable. The sun just mocks you when it’s 7 degrees and windy at 1:00 in the afternoon. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m “used to it”. I don’t want to move to Florida or Arizona or California. But this morning, I find myself tempted to throw my golf clubs in the car and just start driving south. I know nothing is more boring to read than a Minnesota native complaining about cold weather in January, but I’m not really writing this for you, I’m writing it for me. Thanks, I’m done now.

PHOTOS

My second New Years resolution was to bring back another idea that I’ve tried a couple of times before — to shoot and post one photo each day. One thing I learned the first time I did this is that I need to keep in mind the reason for doing it. That is, to help me remember one thing from each day by saving a visual representation. Photos-of-the-day don’t have to be works of art, but they do spur a memory of something or someone. It’s actually a pretty cool assignment, because I’m always searching for a photo. Occasionally I have a pretty good idea ahead of time, like last night’s picture of friends I knew we’d be visiting. Other times something just catches my eye, like Thursday’s picture of the little snowman lights hanging in front of the stained glass window that Karen made. Sometimes I take a different route while driving, hoping I’ll notice something interesting, like the wild turkeys near the old Veterans Home on Monday. Other times, I’m motivated to get out of the house just to go get a photo, like on Friday, when I braved the cold to walk to Minnehaha Creek and saw big sheets of ice tilting up out of the water.

This projects reminds me to notice interesting and the beautiful things that are all around in our every day lives. And . . . it reminds be to be thankful for good friends, family, and neighbors.

Here are my 7 photos for the first week of 2017.

(Sunday, 1/1/17) What a great way to start the year! Otto and Svea — the two best kids ever.

(1/2/17) Here are those turkeys I told you about. They didn’t seem the least bit afraid of me.

(1/3/17) One of the best things about our new neighborhood is Hakan Sezer and his coffee shop called “Sovereign Grounds”. Originally from Turkey, Hakan has been roasting beans and serving up excellent coffee and food at 48th and Chicago in Minneapolis for 22 years. Plus, he has a playroom full of toys for my grandkids! Hakan is a a neighborhood treasure.

(1/4/17) January in the kitchen

(1/5/17) These started appearing around our neighborhood a few months ago. I like them and I want one.

(1/6/17) Minnehaha Creek near the 12th Ave bridge in Minneapolis.

(1/7/17) Our good friends Craig and Judy Jensen had us over for a nice evening.

Back in September, I got a wonderful opportunity to do a weekly photo-based “blog” for MinnPost called View Finder. It’s been great for me. I love taking pictures and giving myself little assignments. Some weeks have been easier than others. Some groups of photos have been better than others, but I like the experience and the opportunity to show my photos. But that project has been kind of draining my blogging energy.

I miss writing about stuff. When I started this blog almost two years ago, I didn’t realize that I would enjoy writing or be any good at it. Writing about whatever interested me — coupled with a few photos — made me more thoughtful and forced me to take time to organize and package my thinking. I’ve gotten away from that. I need to get back to it soon — not because anyone else needs to read it, but because I need to write it.

My last two blog posts have basically been promotions for my first 10 MinnPost View Finders. I’ve now done 18 weeks of it. So continuing my tradition of self aggrandizement, here are my 8 most recent View Finders with links to the MinnPost page where they are found. You can also find all my View Finders on my personal archive page on my See to Sea Productions website.